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Campus safety

University of Dayton says social media fed melee

Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoMarshall Gorby | Dayton Daily News/AP photoOn March 17, an unruly weekend party in a student housing area had to be quelled by the riot-equipped police officers, in Dayton, Ohio.

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DAYTON — Social media messages helped bring out more party-goers at the University of Dayton for
what became a melee that police in riot gear finally quelled.

“That (social media messages) really expanded it from the normal parameters of how many
people would come,” said freshman Kelcey Batzer. People began sending and posting messages about
the party and drinking 40-ounce bottles of beer, a few hours before it got out of control and many
broken bottles littered the area.

University of Dayton officials are reviewing the St. Patrick’s Day event and say students who
engaged in inappropriate behavior face disciplinary action. The Dayton Daily News reports
(http://bit.ly/YwSXyH ) that five students were cited by the university for not complying with
officers, while a non-student was arrested on charges of underage drinking and public intoxication.

“Administrators also have launched a thorough review of the inappropriate use of alcohol by
some students,” Allen Hill, chairman of the board of trustees, said in a statement. “That’s an
issue that faces universities across the nation, and as a university and a board, we have a
responsibility to address it.”

More than 1,000 people gathered in the early morning hours of March 17 at the school in
southwest Ohio. Police responding to a false alarm were met by beer bottle-throwing partiers. The
university’s president was escorted from the scene after he was struck by a police shield after
going to the site to investigate. At least 11 cars were damaged.

University officials, the student government president and the student newspaper have all
criticized the party-goers. Hill said their behavior doesn’t reflect the vast majority of students.

Ohio University police chief Andrew Powers said social media messages have helped people
organize large spring parties in Athens.

“Certainly, people Tweeting about a situation may draw people to the area to see what’s going
on,” Powers said. But he said there also have been a lot of messages about the large police
presence, which might have deterred some people from bad behavior.

“I guess in the final analysis, social media is like any other communication technology —
sometimes it will work for us, sometimes against us,” Powers said.

The University of Cincinnati’s journalism department head, Jeff Blevins, said social media
can also benefit law enforcement by quickly providing useful information to investigators.

“It only takes one Tweet to come across for a law enforcement officer to immediately know
what’s going on, who’s involved, and probably who started it,” he said.